


Kitten and the Wolf

by sabby1



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Animal Transformation, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-22
Updated: 2016-12-22
Packaged: 2018-09-11 05:23:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8955676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sabby1/pseuds/sabby1
Summary: When Caroline convinces Bonnie to cast a spell to rid her of her unwanted sexy feelings for the big bad hybrid, Klaus, things go awry. As the unexpected side-effect hits her, Caroline has to face a whole new species of problem. On top of that, she has to make sure her sudden change does not cause the very hybrid she's been trying to avoid to go on a rampage trying to find her.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this story in 2013. It takes place in that not closer defined time after Rebekah and Stefan started their short-lived fling and before the Mikaelsons ran off to New Orleans.

Caroline Forbes and Bonnie Bennett sat on the floor in Bonnie's bedroom, facing each other. A large white pentagram surrounded by a circle was drawn in chalk on the hardwood between them with white candles positioned on the three empty points of the star shaped symbol.

"I don't know, are you sure about this?" Bonnie scrunched her nose skeptically. 

"I have to do something, Bonnie. I can't keep feeling those … urges. They're wrong, and bad, and wrong." Caroline had a determined look on her face, her eyes shining. "Besides, what's the worst that could happen?" 

Bonnie bit her bottom lip and shrugged. "Well, there was this one newbie witch in California back in the 90s. She tried to make herself fall out of lo-" 

Caroline sucked in a sharp breath as her eyes widened comically. 

"Lust," Bonnie corrected herself. "She tried to make herself fall out of lust with this guy who was her best friend. But instead of that happening, she ended up making every girl who saw him fall in l- lust with him."

"Oh." 

Caroline blanched a little and grimaced as she imagined the same thing happening here. What would she do if all the women in Mystic Falls suddenly fell madly in lo- lust with the evil immortal hybrid? 

"No way," she said with a firm shake of her head. "That's not going to happen. First of all, he and I are not friends. And second of all, you're not a newbie at this. And third of all, I'm sure you're much more powerful than that other witch was, anyway."

Bonnie shrugged and made a non-committal noise. Caroline smiled brilliantly and gave her friend's hands a gentle squeeze. 

"I trust you." 

Bonnie still looked uncertain, but she squeezed Caroline's fingers in return. 

"Famous last words." 

She closed her eyes and started to chant in the ancient language of her ancestors' craft. 

Caroline closed her eyes as well. She felt a strange sensation tug at her heart and the room started to spin around her. She took a deep breath and tried to center herself but the room spun faster and faster. The candles around them flared up, and a black shadow passed between them like the flash of a lightning bolt. There was a booming thunderclap and then...

Nothing. 

The next time Caroline opened her eyes, she was disoriented and her ears were ringing. She was also flat on her back, looking up at Bonnie's concerned face. 

"Are you okay?" 

Bonnie's voice sounded muffled, as if she was speaking from far away. 

"Did it work?" Caroline asked fuzzily. 

"I don't know." Bonnie chewed on her lip.

Caroline looked at the floor around them. Two of the candles had been knocked over and there were sheets of paper from the spell instructions strewn all over the place. There was also a lingering smell of burnt hair in the air. 

"Do you feel any different?" Bonnie looked at her expectantly. 

"I don't know," Caroline said slowly. "Maybe?" 

She didn't really feel any different physically. Maybe a little thirsty, but nothing she would attribute to the effects of a magic spell.

"Do you think it worked?" Bonnie asked.

"I'm not sure." Caroline shrugged and got up from the floor, wobbling a little until she found her footing. "There's really only one way to find out." She squared her shoulders and brushed the chalk off her skirt. "I'm going to go see Klaus." 

~~

Klaus Mikaelson liked beautiful women, fine arts, and expensive liquor, none of which could usually be found at the local watering hole known as the Mystic Grill. It made him wonder why he still bothered to come here. 

Then he caught a whiff of the unique blend of flavors that made up Caroline Forbes as she entered the establishment. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, so he picked up his glass and took a sip of the bland swill in it. 

"Klaus," she said tensely. 

He wondered if she was aware of the many different emotions she conveyed simply by saying his name. He had memorized the siren-song of her voice calling his name in anger and fear, expectation and exasperation, hope and resignation, surprise and sympathy. The only one he had yet to hear was the one that would mean the most. 

"Caroline." He rolled her name over his tongue, raised his glass in a quick salute and asked blandly, "Distraction, blackmail, or begging?" 

"What?" She blinked, her bright blue eyes wide with curiosity and confusion. "What are you talking about?" 

Klaus smirked. He liked the way she held her head high even when she was out of her depths. 

"I was wondering,” he said, “to what I owe the pleasure of your company today, sweetheart." His smile was intentionally sharp as he narrowed his eyes. "Have you come to distract me while your little band of friends tries to steal from me? Or perhaps you're here to try and blackmail me into helping out their latest silly cause?" He contemplated the cheap alcohol in his glass. "Or is this one of those rare occasions where you cast away your pride and flat out beg for my assistance?" 

He was goading her, attempting to play her like an instrument to force the next note of her siren-song from her lips. 

"You are so full of it." Caroline shook her head, blonde curls bouncing around her face as she laughed. 

Klaus was certain that she was unaware of her effect on him when she leaned closer and enveloped him in her delicious scent. 

"But that's okay, because it worked." She patted his hand and pulled away. 

It seemed it was his turn to be thoroughly confused. 

"I'm not sure what you're referring to, sweetheart?"

"Don't worry. You don't need to know." 

She turned and started to leave, but then she looked over her shoulder one last time. 

"See you around, Klaus." 

His brows hitched up at the finality in her tone as he watched her leave, long, confident strides carrying her away from him. 

~~

Caroline stepped out of the Grill and raised her face into the sunshine with a happy sigh and a big smile. She was finally free of Klaus. No more inappropriate sexy feelings for the big bad hybrid, thank you very much. 

Her head was still tilted towards the sky when she opened her eyes. Big mistake. The first thing she saw was the blinding white orb of the sun a millisecond before rainbow colored dots appeared in her vision and her whole body rocked forward with a violent sneeze. 

She sneezed so hard her clothes fell off and left her standing naked in the middle of a pile of fabrics.

'Wait, what?'

Caroline looked around her at the pile of clothes and screamed in absolute mortification; only, it didn't sound like a scream. It sounded like the terrified howl of a cat that had its tail stepped on. 

She ran for her life, darted into the small alley behind the Mystic Grill, and cowered in a corner behind the dumpsters. Her paws hurt from the hard pavement. 

'Paws?' 

Caroline looked down at two perfectly fluffy white paws with tiny ivory colored claws. She promptly howled again and hissed in blank terror. 

'This has got to be a dream. It's not real. This is not real!' 

She growled and hissed and squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself to wake up from this terrible nightmare. 

"What the heck?" Matt Donovan's voice boomed down from far above.

Caroline snapped her eyes open to look at her friend who had just stepped out into the alley with a huge bag of trash in one hand.

'Matt, oh thank God, you have to help me!'

She launched herself at Matt, trying to explain to him at a mile a minute what had happened so he could help her.

Matt seemed unperturbed by the fact that she was a small white feline as she wound herself around his legs and reared up on her hind-legs, begging for his help. He lifted the bag and dropped it into the dumpster with a practiced swing of his arm.

"Sorry, buddy. I don't have any food.” He patted her and gently nudged her away from him. “I gotta get back to work, and you better get outta here before my boss sees you. He doesn't like strays." 

Matt made a shooing motion with his hand as he stepped back through the side-entrance of the Grill. The door closed behind him with a hollow bang. 

'Buddy? Stray?' 

Caroline's jaw dropped in disbelief. She wasn't sure which of the two was more offensive. 

She was still staring at the side-entrance in outrage when the door opened again. Caroline's heart soared with hope until she caught sight of the Grill's owner. The burly man had a nasty scowl on his face and a gigantic broom in his hand. 

As the monstrous thing came swinging down full force, Caroline had just enough time to dive below the dumpsters. Spurred by fear, she abandoned all thought and dashed as far away from the Grill as she could and toward the safest place she knew - home. 

'Mommy.'

~~

Klaus barely took the time to gulp down the rest of his drink before he followed Caroline out the door. He was determined to find out what she had meant by her cryptic little comment. As he stepped out into the sunlight, he almost stumbled over something on the ground in front of the Grill. His features twisted in annoyance. 

Then he recognized the pile of fabric at his feet. His eyebrows flew up as he lifted Caroline's coat from the ground. His surprise turned into confusion then concern as he picked up her blouse and then her skirt. By the time he held her lacy bra and panties in his hands, his ears were ringing. His breath stalled in his throat as he scanned the streets and sidewalks around him in a blind panic. 

"Caroline?!" 

~~

The sun was just dipping below the horizon when Caroline woke up from her nap. She remembered having the weirdest dream. She had turned into a cat and become the faithful pet to the big, bad villain. Klaus had taken on the role of the megalomaniac mastermind, of course; it was all a little bit too 'Austin Powers' for her taste.

She was just glad she was awake now and that everything was back to normal. That would teach her to mess around with weird spells when she didn't absolutely have to. She couldn't even remember when she had taken off her clothes or how she'd gotten into bed. 

The insistent buzz of her cell phone snapped Caroline out of her thoughts. She had forgotten it was still on the charger when she had left the house in the morning. Stefan's 'hero frown' stared at her from the call screen. Caroline sighed - probably yet another Elena Emergency - and accepted the call with a smile.

"Hey, Stefan." 

"Caroline!" He sounded annoyed. "Where are you?" 

"Uh, at home. Why?” 

Caroline scratched her head and walked over to the closet to find some clothes. She felt weird talking to Stefan completely naked even if he couldn't see her over the phone. 

“Because there's a dangerous, insane original scouring the town looking for you.” 

Caroline laughed. “And it didn't occur to him to check my house first?” 

“Apparently not.” Stefan's tone was as dry as his humor. 

“Well, tell him you found me.” Caroline clamped the phone to her neck while she pulled on a pair of jeans and a baby-doll t-shirt.

“Why don't you tell him yourself? I'm a little busy right now.” 

She swallowed the sting of dismissal, a reminder that she didn't enjoy the same privileges as her friend Elena when it came to either of the Salvatore brothers.

“Right,” she said a little too brightly. “Tell Rebekah I said hello.” 

She hung up before Stefan could make a fool of himself by asking how she knew. 

There were fifteen missed calls on her display; all of them were from Klaus.

She wondered what in the world had him all bent out of shape. Their last encounter hadn't exactly been earth-shattering. She couldn't imagine he would obsess that much over one teensy little comment. Rolling her eyes at the drama llama, she brought up the chat menu and wrote him a text. 

'I'm fine. Stop harassing my friends.'

It took less than a minute for his response to pop up. 

'Prove it. Pick up the phone.'

She had just enough time to finish reading before her phone rang. Caroline answered the call with an exasperated sigh. 

“Klaus, I'm fine.” 

His sigh of relief on the other end of the line made her stomach do a funny flip. 

“Then what the hell happened to your-”

Caroline didn't hear the rest of the sentence because something tickled her nose and a powerful sneeze drowned out her hearing as her eyes squeezed shut. When she opened them again, she was buried under a pile of clothes next to her extra-large smart-phone. 

It took her another moment to register that the pointy ears, fuzzy muzzle, and long white whiskers of a blue-eyed cat reflecting off the glossy screen belonged to her. Then Caroline screeched in complete terror. 

“Caroline? Caroline! Caroline, talk to me, sweetheart! Are you alright?” 

Klaus sounded positively frantic. The only thing she could do as he kept calling her name was bat her paw against the screen until the 'End Call' button finally registered and hung up on him. 

'I'm so screwed! I'm going to kill Bonnie!' 

But first, she had to get to Klaus before he did something stupid, crazy, and violent. 

~~

Elijah Mikaelson entered the parlor just in time to witness Klaus roar in frustration and hurl something across the room. His enhanced reflexes allowed the older Mikaelson brother to dodge lightening fast and catch the oncoming projectile in his hand. Since he rarely lost his decorum, he merely smiled and raised an eyebrow in mild interest as he wiggled Klaus's cell phone between his fingers. 

“I take it that the call did not go well?” 

“No, it did not.” 

Klaus sucked in a deep breath. His nostrils flared as he visibly fought the urge to let his bones break and twist into the shape of the wolf. Elijah noticed the warning signs and took a few steps closer to his younger sibling. 

“Surely, it can't be bad enough to warrant a full-fledged transformation?”

“You must excuse me, brother.” Klaus gritted his teeth. “I really don't have time to indulge your wry comments at the moment.”

His words were slow and deliberate as his eyes flashed yellow, and sweat broke out on his forehead. The bones in his fingers began to shift again. Elijah's brows furrowed in concern. 

“Klaus, what's wrong?” 

“Caroline.” The word trailed off into a low growl. 

Elijah remained silent, unwilling to commit to a response. Due to the tempestuous nature of their relationship, it was impossible to tell without further information whether Klaus was presently raging on behalf of the feisty blonde or against her. 

Klaus's fangs had dropped and his hands were shaking. His fingertips extended into claws.

“Something's happened to her.”

“Ah.”

It appeared that today Klaus was raging on her behalf. Elijah swiftly closed the remaining distance between them and grasped his younger brother by the shoulders, forcing eye-contact and appealing to the human part of Klaus. 

“Calm down, brother. Tell me what happened. I need to know what's going on so I'll be able to help you,” Elijah stated the painfully obvious. 

~~

Caroline dashed across the street, elated that she still had enhanced strength and speed even in the form of a cat. She tried not to think too hard about anything else at the moment. First she had to get to Klaus before the big, bad hybrid went on an unnecessary rampage. 

She kept running until she reached the outskirts of town. It was completely dark by the time she finally arrived at the Mikaelson's mansion at the end of the aptly named Cedar Drive. 

Her heart sank when she didn't see Klaus's Porsche in the driveway. She shook her head and veered off to the side. There was no point in going up to the main entrance when she couldn't even ring the doorbell in her current state. 

Caroline darted around the building to the service entrance at the back. She seized her opportunity when one of the cleaning staff came out with large trash bags in each hand, slipped through the open door unnoticed, and scurried past the maids into the foyer and up the grand staircase towards Klaus's rooms. Her plans burst like the proverbial soap-bubble when she got to the large double door and found it closed. 

'Oh, come on! Help me out here!' 

Her plaintive mewl turned into a hiss of shock when the door actually opened and a giant Italian loafer almost crushed her to death. 

“No, I don't know where he went.” Elijah switched his cell phone from one ear to the other. “Then I suggest you put on some clothes before you step outside to help him, sister.” 

His tone was as sweet as candy laced with arsenic. Caroline flinched and scrambled to get around him into Klaus's room without being noticed. 

“Hey!” Elijah whipped around, scanning the room. “No, not you, Rebekah.” 

His eyes narrowed as he listened to his sister's vociferous protests. 

“Well, I am making it your problem, and if it bothers you that much to be apart from each other you may behest your current suitor's assistance at your leisure.” 

He disconnected the call before Rebekah could come up with a suitably abrasive retort and continued to search the room. 

“I know you are in here. Show yourself.” 

Caroline closed her eyes and scooted as far back under the bed as she could. Thankfully, Klaus owned a king-sized bed. Even Elijah's arms wouldn't be long enough to reach her without having to crawl under the bed. 

“I can hear you breathe,” Elijah said calmly. 

The sound of his steps on the hardwood grew louder. Out of habit, Caroline sucked in a big lungful of air, intending to hold her breath. Instead she got a nose full of dust. Her head jerked up with a sneeze and banged painfully against the bed frame above her. A cold draft of air brushed over her naked skin, making her shiver. 

“Crap!” she squeaked.

Caroline used vampire speed to dash out from under the bed and dove behind the folding screen in the corner of the room before Elijah could see her. She hooked her fingers over the top frame of the screen and rose up on her tiptoes so she could peek over it. 

“Elijah, it's me, please don't kill me!” 

“Caroline?” Elijah sounded equal parts surprised and suspicious.

“Yes?” 

“What are you doing here?” He took a few steps closer to the folding screen, trying to look around it. “My brother is looking for you all over-”

“Don't! Don't come any closer, please.” 

Caroline was not above begging to save a small shred of her dignity. She would not give any of the Mikaelson brothers the advantage of seeing her naked first. 

“Are you naked?” Suspicion vanished from Elijah's voice, replaced with disbelief. 

“Please, don't ask.” Caroline could feel her face flame up. She closed her eyes in mortification. “But, is there any way that I could borrow some clothes?” 

Elijah crossed his arms over his chest and looked at her calculatingly. 

“I'm afraid not,” he said. “Unless, you're willing to tell me exactly what's going on.” 

Caroline got back up on her tiptoes to glare over the screen at Elijah. 

“You wouldn't! You're the one with the moral code.” 

A slow smile started to curl the original vampire's lips as he arched his brows. 

“Are you willing to take your chances with that assumption in your current situation?”

She pressed her lips together and glared some more, but when Elijah didn't budge, she gave up and started to pout. 

“Fine,” she said. “I'll tell you how I got here and what happened to my clothes.”

“Good.” 

His smile widened into something more natural as his stance relaxed. 

Caroline rolled her eyes. She'd never figure out the internal workings of those crazy originals. 

“But, can you at least throw me a shirt or something first, please?!” 

“Start talking.”

Elijah turned his back on her and started walking towards a large dresser. Caroline stuck her head around the side of the screen to watch him more comfortably. 

“Well, I was on the phone with Klaus earlier and he was acting all weird, asking me where I was and if I was okay.” 

The moment she paused her explanation, Elijah's hands stopped on the top drawer of the dresser. 

“Go on.” 

Caroline growled a little under her breath. 

“Well, like I said, he was acting all weird, and I was telling him that I'm fine and then 'poof'.” 

She watched with narrowed eyes as Elijah reached for one thing then pulled his hand back and decided on a different piece of clothing instead. He turned around and held up a large black t-shirt, obviously one of Klaus's. 

“And what exactly do you mean by 'poof'?” 

Caroline pursed her lips in annoyance. She did not really want to tell Elijah everything. She stuck her arm out as far as she could without flashing him and waggled her fingers. 

“Shirt first.” 

Elijah rolled his eyes and threw the shirt with deadly accuracy. 

“Thank you,” Caroline said sincerely as she caught it and ducked back behind the screen. “By 'poof' I mean that I spontaneously shape-shifted.” She pulled the shirt over her head. “Which is the cause for my current sartorial shortcoming.”

She looked down at herself and frowned. The shirt was long enough to cover her but only just. She would have to make sure not to bend over even the tiniest little bit or she would be giving Elijah an eye-full. The man completely ignored the witty quip, damn him, and zoned in on the detail she was trying to leave out. 

“Shape-shifted into what?” 

Caroline sighed and mumbled a few not so nice things under her breath before she answered him. 

“If I'm going to tell you that, I'll need something to cover my-”

Before she could finish her sentence, a pair of lacy panties was lowered into her line of vision suspended from two of Elijah's long fingers as he dangled the flimsy garment over the top of the folding screen.

“Hey, those are mine!” 

She snatched the panties and hastily put them on then stormed out from behind the screen, common sense be damned. 

“How do you have my panties? Especially since I just wore them toda- Oh.” 

Caroline's eyes widened as she remembered when she had last worn that pair and where she would have lost them. 

“Oh crap! It all makes sense now!” 

Elijah's brows furrowed as he tried to decipher her comments. 

“Care to enlighten me?” 

“Yes, well, no. Anyway, Klaus must have come looking for me after I left the Grill because I wore these earlier and then I-”

The chill from the cold floor under her naked feet made her sneeze and suddenly she was looking way up at Elijah from inside the puddle of Klaus's t-shirt and her panties. 

'No!' 

Her cry for once sounded like the word she was trying to say.

“I have to agree.” 

Elijah shook his head, his brows furrowed deeply as he stooped down to one knee. Caroline squawked in outrage when he scooped her up in one large hand and held her in front of his face. 

“He's never going to believe this.” 

~~

Klaus stormed through the front door and sped up the stairs towards his brother's suite. He burst through the entrance of the formal sitting room, barely containing the growl in his chest. 

“Where is she?” 

Elijah looked unperturbed by his rage, ensconced in one of two large armchairs by the fireplace. He leaned back and motioned towards the empty armchair. His other hand was resting on the back of a small white cat curled up on his lap. 

“Why don't you join me, brother?” 

“Do not make me ask again, brother.” Klaus snarled with barely suppressed rage. 

“Caroline's fine. She's here, and she's not in any immediate danger.” Despite his calm words, Elijah flinched. 

Klaus narrowed his eyes. He kept his glare on Elijah as he took a deep breath, trying to verify the presence of Caroline's scent; he did catch a hint of it from his bedroom, but that could be from the clothes he had picked up in front of the Grill earlier this afternoon. 

What was really strange was that he could smell Caroline's scent mingled with Elijah's all over his older brother. That sufficed to make Klaus lose the tenuous hold on his self-control. He launched himself at his brother with a roar. 

“What have you done to her?!” 

Elijah had sped away before Klaus crashed into the chair he had vacated; it toppled over but Klaus moved with it. As it hit the floor, he was crouched over the long backrest, shredding the fabric with his claws, wishing it were Elijah's throat. 

The cat screamed and hissed in terror as Elijah swung it up into the air and held it before him like a furry shield. 

“She's right here!”

Klaus glared daggers at Elijah. All he needed was to wait for a tiny lapse of attention so he could pounce again. He wouldn't miss a second time.

But the cat got there first. She twisted around and sank her fangs viciously into Elijah's hand. He dropped her with a filthy curse. Klaus couldn't believe his eyes as the tiny beast twisted around in mid air and faded into a blur of motion. The insolent little thing came to a sudden stop right in front of his clawed fingers and looked up at him with big blue eyes, mewling plaintively. 

He sucked in an annoyed breath through his nose, ready to teach that feline the true meaning of fear. Then he smelled it. Incredulous, Klaus lifted up the cat in both hands, looking closer at the crystal-blue eyes as he cocked his head to the side. At first, the puny thing scrabbled and squeaked when his face moved closer but then it stopped and held perfectly still. 

Klaus was keenly aware of his brother's eyes on him as he ignored every instinct that told him this was just a trick. Hoping he wasn't wrong, Klaus closed his eyes and rubbed his cheek against the cat's head. He buried his nose in the soft fur at its neck and deliberately took a deep breath. The smell of Caroline's perfume and shampoo hit him like a slap upside the head. Klaus pulled back in shock and stared at the furry animal, nose to nose, unwilling to believe what his senses were telling him. 

“Caroline?” 

The cat mewled pathetically and licked the tip of his nose. 

~~ 

'Please don't kill me, please don't kill me! Remember, you love me?' 

Caroline was not above shamelessly using his feelings to ensure her survival. Her heart was trying to pound out of her chest, and her mouth felt super-dry. 

'Does he have to be so close?' 

Her mouth was so dry, she had to lick her lips. 

“Sweetheart!” 

'Oops!' 

She might have miscalculated the distance between them.

Elijah's voice snapped them both out of their staring contest. 

”Perhaps, I should leave you two alone then.” 

'Don't you dare!' 

Caroline twisted her neck around to glare at Elijah in panic. 

“Don't move!” Klaus's snarl made it quite clear that leaving was not an option. “I want an explanation first.” 

Caroline found herself unexpectedly cradled against Klaus's chest as the hybrid got up from the floor and carelessly righted up the chair he had toppled over. 

“Sit,” Klaus said simply, but his tone brooked no argument. 

She growled and hissed at the cliché of it all when Klaus pointedly sat down in the undamaged armchair and draped her over his lap. Her nightmare had become reality. 

“Hush, pet. Let Elijah talk.” 

Klaus had the nerve to be so damn casual about it, too! 

'I am not your pet!'

Caroline whipped around and sank her teeth into the fleshy part of his thumb. A quick intake of breath was the only sign that Klaus had even felt the sting of the bite. 

“Feisty little thing.” 

Her jaw was suddenly clamped between his thumb and forefinger and Klaus's face was uncomfortably close to hers again. 

“Do you want my help or not?” he asked. 

Caroline growled, and her fur bristled. 

'Mostly, I want you to let go of me!' 

She pulled her face out of his grip, stood up on his lap and turned around, swishing her tail up and sticking her butt in his face to show him just what she thought of his attitude. An instant later, she realized what she was doing. 

'Oh my god, oh my god, I did not just do that.' 

Her eyes widened in mortification and she quickly tucked in her tail and sat down. Of course, the brothers couldn't just let it slide. They had to comment on the incident. 

“That was quite disturbing,” Elijah said blandly as he sat down in the armchair that was worse for wear. 

“I can't say she's ever done that quite like this before.” Klaus chuckled.

It only got worse when Klaus started to pet her back with his warm hand in long, soothing strokes and reassured her in a comforting murmur. 

“Don't worry, luv. I won't hold it against you. I'm sure it takes some time to adjust to all of this.” 

Caroline's mortification was complete when she caught herself purring from the attention. 

'Might as well call me kitty and bring on the tuna. I'm doomed!'

“Now,” Klaus said and rested his gaze heavily on Elijah. “Tell me what happened. I want to know everything.” 

Elijah in turn seemed to be unable to look away as Klaus continued to stroke Caroline's back as if she was nothing more than the small white feline she currently appeared to be. 

~~

Klaus was in the middle of contemplating gruesome murder over his first cup of coffee when he became aware of the sound of tiny clawed paws padding down the hallway toward the formal dining room. 

He had left Caroline asleep in his bed, curled up underneath the comforter, when he'd come down for breakfast about an hour ago. 

A smile reflexively curled up the corner of his mouth as she stepped into the room. He pushed out the chair closest to him with his foot and finished the last sip of his coffee.

“Good morning, luv. Sleep well?” 

He watched patiently as she made her way to him across the floor. She hopped up onto the offered chair, stared at him from her diminutive position, and then jumped up onto the table where she sat down in front of him, head held high.

Klaus curled his fingers under the table. It was more difficult than he expected not to reach out and pet her. 

“Are you hungry?” he asked instead.

Caroline's bravado visibly faltered. Her ears flicked back and forth as she lowered her gaze. 

Klaus knew exactly what she was thinking. He'd been thinking about it for a good part of last night. 

“Here, try this.” 

He brought his wrist up to his mouth and tore through the skin without flinching, then let the blood drip into the delicate china cup until it was filled halfway. 

Caroline looked at him sharply, but then she lowered her head toward the cup. She sniffed cautiously before she dipped her muzzle further and flicked her tongue into the thick liquid. 

Klaus watched silently. The lump in his chest burst like a soap-bubble when she took to the taste and emptied the cup in record time. 

“I'm glad some things didn't change,” he said sincerely. 

When she pulled her face back out of the cup, her muzzle was smeared up to her whiskers with his blood. 

Klaus bit down on the inside of his cheek to prevent an involuntary bark of laughter. He was afraid she could tell by the expression on his face, anyway. 

“You've got a little spot.” He kept his tone as neutral as he possibly could and pointed at his own chin. 

Caroline's glare was murderous as she stuck out her tongue and started to clean her muzzle. 

“There, that's better.” He smiled, leaned back in his chair, and continued to carry the conversation. “Elijah left to see Katherine last night.” 

Caroline seemed uninterested. Her eyes went back and forth between him and the cup. She licked her muzzle again.

Klaus smoothly changed the topic as he tore his wrist open again and refilled the cup in front of her. 

“I have yet to hear from your friends regarding your sudden disappearance.” 

The casual comment delivered the intended sting. Caroline's tail twitched and her ears turned back against her head. 

“I'm sure they will be banging down my door soon enough.” 

Klaus couldn't help but to soften the blow. Caroline always had that effect on him. There had been less than a handful of times throughout their many encounters that he had been able to deal a devastating blow without feeling compelled to soften it or take it back. 

She had just lowered her head into the cup again when the sound of the doorbell echoed through the house. 

“And who might that be?” Klaus wondered if he had jinxed the appearance of her friends by bringing it up. “Shall we go have a look?” 

He didn't give Caroline the chance to protest before he scooped her up from the table to carry her on his arm. 

He was only mildly surprised when he found Stefan Salvatore in the middle of the entrance hall by the time they arrived. The brunet looked like he was barely holding back from running up the stairs, his eyes twitching back and forth between the servant who let him in and the curved staircase.

Klaus cleared his throat unnecessarily loudly and stepped into the entrance hall with Caroline snugly cradled against his chest. 

“Stefan. What brings you here so early in the morning?” 

He was giving the boy the benefit of the doubt for Caroline's sake. 

“Klaus.” Stefan barely looked at him before his gaze trailed up the staircase again. “Did Rebekah come here? She had to leave pretty suddenly last night. And I haven't heard from her since.”

The insolent runt had the stones to look at him in accusation. Klaus blinked slowly as he sucked in a breath. 

“Really?” 

If he were holding anything other than Caroline at this moment, Klaus would have been tempted to hurl it at Stefan's head, hoping to crack his thick skull and expose the useless brain-tissue within. 

“I'm afraid, I have no idea where she is, but I'm sure there's no reason to worry.”

He could feel Caroline's claws dig into his arm and absentmindedly reached down to rub his fingertips through the soft fur at the nape of her neck. 

“Yeah.” Stefan's gaze wandered away from the staircase to finally rest on Caroline. “You got a cat. I didn't think you were the type.” 

“Yes.” Klaus's eyes narrowed as he continued to stare coldly at the younger vampire. “She's quite special to me. Irreplaceable, in fact, I don't know what I'd do if she ever disappeared.” 

Caroline's claws dug in deeper as she whipped her head around to glare at him. Klaus acknowledged the warning with a twitch of his lips. 

“If she's that important,” Stefan said with a shrug, “you might want to think about getting her a collar.” 

“I'll keep that in mind,” Klaus said, unable to fight a grin. “Now, if you'll excuse me.” 

“Yeah, I should be going anyway.” Stefan nodded and backtracked a few steps. “Tell Rebekah to call me if she shows up?” 

Klaus aimed his most condescending look at the younger Salvatore brother. 

“I'll be sure to mention it.” 

“Thanks.” 

Stefan returned the favor with a cocky smile. He stuck his hands in the back pockets of his jeans and threw one last look up toward the second floor. 

Klaus watched him turn around and leave with his proverbial tail tucked between his legs. He really didn't know what his little sister saw in the git. Stefan was fun enough to play with when he was a ripper but definitely not material to bring into the family. Klaus knew Elijah agreed with him on this matter. They would have to have a talk with Rebekah. 

His thoughts stopped abruptly when he noticed that Caroline was awfully still inside his arms. He stopped petting her and lifted her up to see. If he didn't know any better, he would swear that her eyes were wet with tears but, as far as he knew, cats were incapable of crying.

“Don't bother, luv. He's not worth it.” 

Caroline didn't seem to agree as she made a pitiful whining noise. 

“I think I have just the thing to cheer you up.” Klaus said with a smile as he scratched her under the chin. “How do you feel about taking a little trip?”

Her morose look instantly turned into a stubborn expression as she sunk her teeth into his knuckle. 

“So, you don't want to see your witch-friend Bonnie?” Klaus teased.

Caroline immediately released his knuckle and looked at him with the most innocent big blue eyes she could muster. 

“I thought so.” He chuckled and affectionately patted her head. 

~~

Rebekah Mikaelson was nothing if not diligent in fulfilling her familial duties. So, when her second-oldest brother called her and told her to go fetch some runaway girl because her third-oldest brother was throwing a temper tantrum over her disappearance, Rebekah would drop everything and do just that. 

Things had just been getting interesting with Stefan, too, which was why Rebekah was now seriously pissed off and slamming the ornate front door to their mansion as she stepped into the spacious entrance hall. 

“Niklaus! Elijah!” She loved the echo in this place. “Where the hell are you?!”

Fealty above all did not mean she couldn't give her brothers crap for sending her on a wild goose chase. 

After a few seconds of complete silence, she stormed up the stairs toward her brothers' private rooms. She didn't want to take the chance that Niklaus or Elijah were around but simply chose to ignore her. 

She rapped her knuckles on Nik's door twice, for propriety's sake, before she burst in. It took less than a second to speed through the empty rooms before she was back out in the hallway and stomping toward Elijah's suite. 

Crap like this was why she almost wanted to move back into the family mansion; that way she wouldn't have to haul back to her house on the other end of town to get a shower and pass out after spending the wee hours of the morning chasing her brother's missing lady-love. 

Then again, nobody said that just because she didn't live here anymore she couldn't make use of the facilities.

As she stepped into the shower, she wondered how pissed Nik would be when she told him she hadn't been able to find Caroline, but that nobody except him was really at all concerned about that.

Maybe it was best to tell him over the phone. 

~~

Bonnie was lying face down on the couch, unable to go to sleep, but even less able to get up and start moving. She should be up and on her way by now, but that was definitely not happening. 

Not after she had woken up screaming from nightmares, again. 

She was not her best with less than three hours of sleep; her whole body felt like she had gotten into a fight with an ogre and lost. 

When the doorbell rang, she dragged herself up from the couch and toward the door, only half paying attention to where she was going. 

The moment she opened the door and saw that it was Klaus on the other side, she shook her head. 

“No.” 

Klaus didn't crash into the invisible barrier that separated them; he was smarter than that, but he did glare murderously at her. 

“Let me in,” he said. “We need to talk,” 

“No.” Bonnie shook her head again. “I didn't get any sleep last night. I feel miserable, and there is absolutely nothing I can do right now that any other witch couldn't do ten times better.” 

“I beg to differ, you see, this is a mess that-”

“I don't care. I don't care if it was your family, or Stefan, or Damon, or even Elena who made the mess. Or even if it was you.” 

Bonnie didn't even care that she was interrupting a powerful, murderous hybrid who could end her life if he ever caught her off-guard. She was simply too tired to muster the intelligence to be afraid of him or the fluffy white animal on his arm. 

“Is that a cat?” She raised her hand and waved him off before he could try to explain that one, too. “You know what? Never mind.”

She yawned hugely and barely remembered to cover her gaping mouth with her hand. 

“Just find somebody else to fix this mess, and I'll catch back up when the next one comes around, okay? Thanks, bye.” 

She closed the door in Klaus's face without regrets. He couldn't come into her house, and nobody else could invite him in.

She needed a solid seven or eight hours of sleep and then she might even decide to give him a call and help him with whatever mess he was trying to talk about. Right now, she was no good for anything. 

~~

Matt Donovan liked people. It was something he didn't think about much, but when it came right down to it, it was the reason why he still worked at the Mystic Grill even though his boss was a hard-ass and the pay sucked canal water. He genuinely liked people and he always gave them the benefit of the doubt. 

That was why he didn't judge when Rebekah Mikaelson stormed into the Grill, slammed her hand down on his counter and demanded a bottle of whiskey and a row of shot glasses without so much as looking at him. 

“Um, Rebekah,” he said quietly as he leaned his arms on the counter. “It's not even eleven in the morning and neither of us is twenty-one.” He raised his brows meaningfully.

When she finally lifted her head to look at him, the expression on her face was murderous. 

“My brother is like a horse's ass: full of crap. So, I really need a drink.” Her pupils dilated as she tried to compel him. 

“I'm on vervain,” Matt said gently. “But I make a mean Virgin Mary if that'll help.”

Her pretty face puffed up with an angry pout as she furrowed her brows so tightly that her cute button nose crinkled. 

“You're not even remotely funny.” 

“I know. That's why I'm a bus-boy, not a comedian.” Matt gave her his most encouraging smile as he put together the Virgin Mary he had offered. “So, which one of your brothers is it?” 

As far as he was concerned, both Elijah and Klaus were dangerous and evil. But right now it was not about him; it was about the pretty original vampire girl who was trying really hard to figure out how to be a good person, baby-steps and all that. 

Rebekah's nose crinkled even more as she grabbed the celery stalk Matt had stuck into the drink. 

“Klaus,” she said and started to chew on it viciously.

“Ah.” 

Matt really felt for her, and the expression on her face was so miserable that he couldn't help himself. He looked left and right before he grabbed her glass and quickly poured a couple ounces of vodka into the spiced up tomato juice below the counter before he set it back in front of Rebekah. 

The grateful smile she beamed his way felt like the sun coming up on a cold spring day. Matt squashed that feeling as best as he could and scuffed his boot on the hardwood floor. 

“Actually,” Rebekah said as she picked up the glass. “It's both of them. I've been up all night, searching for bloody Caroline, because she's disappeared off to wherever. I can't find her anywhere, and now neither of them is even answering their phones!” She took a deep draft from her drink.

Matt blinked quickly, trying to absorb what she was saying, but the only thing he had really heard was that Caroline had disappeared. 

“What do you mean Caroline's disappeared?”

Rebekah lowered the half-empty glass from her mouth and licked her lips. 

“You didn't know?” Her long lashes fluttered. “I thought I told Stefan,” she muttered under her breath.

“What happened?” Matt couldn't hide the anxiety in his voice. 

He tried to stay out of vampire business as much as he could, but Caroline was still one of his best friends and the girl he used to be in love with. 

“No idea.” Rebekah shrugged. She stirred her drink with the remains of her celery stalk. “All I know is Elijah called me last night and told me to go and search for her. So, I went and searched for her.” 

Matt wasn't sure whether to admire Rebekah for her loyalty to her brothers or shake her for her lack of common sense to ask some questions first. 

“And you still haven't found her?” 

“Nope.” Rebekah shook her head and chewed on her celery stalk some more. “But nobody else seems too concerned about it. Stefan shrugged it off, Damon texted me to check the spa, and the Bennett witch didn't even open the door when I stopped by her place a couple hours ago.” 

“Ok, hang on.” 

Matt quickly pulled out his phone and dialed Caroline's number. After four rings, her voicemail clicked on. 

“Caroline, it's Matt. Call me when you get this, I just want to make sure you're okay. Bye.” 

He frowned at the phone in his hand before he looked up at Rebekah. 

“Did you check Caroline's place?” 

“Only from the outside.” She shrugged. “We're not exactly on speaking terms, and I don't have an invitation.” 

She nibbled some more on her celery stalk, looking uncomfortable.

“Okay,” Matt said. “I'll stop by her place as soon as my shift's over. What's your number?” 

The stalk dropped from her mouth. 

“Are you trying to chat me up?” 

Matt had never had a good poker face so his expression scrunched up in disbelief and exasperation. 

“No, it's so whoever finds her first can let the other know.” 

“Oh.” Rebekah blinked, her mouth open, looking cute. “You're gonna help?”

“Of course I'm gonna help. Caroline's my friend.” 

~~

The doorbell jingled merrily, making Meredith Berg twitch. She still put a smile on her face to greet the customer who had just stepped into the store. 

“Welcome to the Mystic Pet-shop.” 

The man was well-dressed, blond, and handsome, but something about him seemed off. And it wasn't just the white cat he carried on his arm without so much as a leash.

Meredith watched him browse quietly for a few moments before she couldn't take it anymore. 

“Can I help you find anything?” 

“Oh, I'm sure you can,” he said.

His accent sounded vaguely British, and his smile made cold shivers run down her back and goosebumps rise on her arms. 

“I am looking for a very specific type of collar for my cat. Something that's flexible and stretches, in case she accidentally gets caught on it.”

Meredith breathed a sigh of relief as she realized what type of weirdo pet-owner she was dealing with: clearly, a first time owner. 

“Are you sure?” she said. “In my experience there's a greater chance that your cat will take advantage of any give in the material to weasel out of the collar.” She smiled encouragingly and tried to keep her voice as free of judgment as possible. “Cats aren't as accepting of them as dogs are.” 

“Oh, I am sure.” The confident smile grew a tad-bit sharper. “My sweetheart knows it's in her best interest to keep it on. After all, if she's ever caught out there by herself, it will make the difference between being brought home safely or ending up in a kill-shelter.” 

The guy wasn't even looking at Meredith. Instead, he was focused on the cat in his arms as if he was talking to it directly. 

Meredith almost rolled her eyes at the familiar pet-owner quirk and continued as if he had actually addressed her. 

“Well, the best method to prevent that from happening is to have her chipped, of course.” 

The cat suddenly became very lively and started to twist in her owner's grip. Meredith watched in awe as the animal batted at him then swiped one paw at a pink, stretchy fashion collar hanging from the display on the counter. It knocked the band clean off and twisted back around to look up at the owner. 

The blond man took it all in stride and merely chuckled at his pet. 

“I'll keep it in mind,” he said as he picked up the collar. “Just this for now.” 

Meredith nodded and started to ring him up. “You're going to need a tag if you want to use the collar to identify her.” 

He smiled again and Meredith felt like she was going to have goosebumps for the rest of her life. 

“I know, we're headed to the jewelers next,” he said. 

Meredith again barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes. 

“Of course.” 

She took the twenty dollars in cash and handed back his change. 

As he left, he was trying to put the newly purchased collar on his cat. The feline was fighting this every step of the way, sinking her claws into the man's hand and generally doing everything she could to twist away from the collar.

“Newbies,” Meredith said with an eye-roll once the door had closed behind them. 

~~

Caroline was not happy. She glared at the offensive silver heart pendant engraved with elegant cursive letters and wondered if there was any way she could sneak a white-oak stake into Klaus's heart without him noticing. 

The front of the pendant proudly proclaimed her as 'Princess C' and the small printed letters on the back flat out ordered people to 'Return to Klaus Mikaelson 757-555-3498'.

'I'm surprised he didn't add 'or else' at the end of that.' 

Caroline sniffed and moved away from the vanity mirror. 

She jumped onto the floor and crossed the room to vault up onto the drawing table that Klaus currently occupied. 

Klaus didn't even flinch when she stomped all over his sketches to get up in his face. 

“Something on your mind, luv?” he asked calmly. 

She rolled her eyes and plopped down on her butt, her tail twitching aggressively. 

'Naw, what could possibly be on my mind?'

Caroline wished she could stomp her foot in anger. With paws it just looked like she was trying to shake off something sticky. 

'God this sucks! I can't even talk! I need to be human again!' 

“I know it sucks, sweetheart, but there is precious little I can do about it, is there?” 

The first couple of times Klaus's commentary had responded perfectly to her mental ramblings, Caroline had been overjoyed. She had actually believed that Klaus could hear her until she had made a complete fool of herself, begging him to talk to her while he had sketched away. He hadn't so much as batted an eyelash until his sketch was finished. 

Now she was just resigned to the fact that Klaus had an uncanny ability to guess what she was thinking even when she couldn't express it in words. 

“And what would you have me do, hm?” he asked as he reached out to pet her. 

Caroline forgot to pull away until another voice interrupted their intense staring match. 

“You do realize you look altogether mad, talking to a cat.” 

Elijah was leaning in the doorway with his arms crossed in front of his chest. 

“Since I am disgustingly rich, I'm sure you meant to say I look 'eccentric'.” Klaus grinned at his brother. 

Caroline used her hind legs to push away from Klaus as he swept her up and turned her around. The newly acquired collar and pendant glinted at her neck.

“Meet Princess C.” 

“Marvelous.” Elijah stepped into the room. “Rebekah just left another message. Have you decided what you are going to tell her?”

“Of course,” Klaus said as he finally put Caroline back down on his desk. “I will tell her that it was a false alarm. But it won't hurt her to spend a few more hours away from her latest misplaced infatuation, don't you agree?”

~~

“Oh, I'm gonna kill him!” 

Matt jerked the phone away from his ear and held it there until he was sure Rebekah was done screaming then brought it back to speak.

“I take it your brother's still not answering.” 

“He's rejecting my calls!” she fumed.

Matt said nothing as he waited for her to calm down. He listened to her suck in a harsh breath and blow it out forcefully before she spoke again. 

“Sorry,” she said. “Have you heard from Caroline?”

“Nothing.” He looked left and right then crossed the street. “Listen, I just got off of work, so I'm going to drive by her place and see if she's home or if her mom knows where she is. I'll call you either way, okay?” 

“Okay.” She sounded disgruntled. “Thanks, Matt.” 

“You betcha.” 

He hung up the phone and got into his truck. 

~~

Sheriff Forbes opened the door when Matt showed up at Caroline's house. She was surprised to see him and told him that Caroline wasn't home. 

“Yeah, um, I know.” 

“What?” 

“I mean, I know. She's out with …” Matt licked his lips. “The others. I had to work, so I'm heading out last.” 

He didn't want to worry Caroline's mom if it wasn't absolutely necessary, but he'd never been a very good liar, and this was killing him. He could feel Sheriff Forbes scrutinizing him as he sweated under her gaze.

“She asked me to, um, stop by and pick up her, um, phone?” 

“Really?” said Sheriff Forbes. “And who are those 'others'?”

Matt flinched. 

“Just a few people from school?” 

“Uh-huh. And where is 'out'?” 

“The Lockwood property?” 

He was busted. He knew by the look on her face, any second now, Sheriff Forbes would open her mouth and-

“You're not boozin' out there, are you?” 

“No!” Matt's heart pounded in his chest. “No, just music and … stuff.” 

Sheriff Forbes looked at him for a long moment as Matt held his breath and waited for her to keep questioning him. She narrowed her eyes. 

“If you're still out there by ten, I'm having one of my deputies crash the party.” 

“Okay.” Matt didn't have to fake his sigh of relief. “Got it.” 

“And tell my daughter I expect her home by eleven, or at the very least a phone call before then if she's gonna stay at Elena's place.” 

“Got it.” 

Matt high-tailed it up the stairs and into Caroline's room. He hoped Sheriff Forbes wouldn't question it when he came back out without Caroline's phone in his hand. Matt wished he was a better liar, but it had been the first excuse that had sprung to his mind for getting into Caroline's room. 

His eyes widened when something flashed from inside a puddle of clothes on the floor. He pressed his lips together and pulled Caroline's cell phone from the pile.

What in the world could have happened? Had Caroline dropped her cell phone when she changed her clothes and just left it there? She was too organized for that.

The message about his call was still on the screen, so she had definitely been without her phone since before eleven this morning. It was now after one in the afternoon.

The frown on Matt's face deepened as he shoved Caroline's cell phone into his pocket and left her room. 

“Did you find it?” Sheriff Forbes asked him from the kitchen. 

“Yeah,” he said absentmindedly on his way out the door. “Thanks. Bye, Sheriff Forbes.”

Matt climbed into his truck, slammed the door shut and pulled out his own cell phone. He sorted through his contacts and called Rebekah.

“Hey,” she said, “Anything?” 

“I found Caroline's phone in her room.” His knee started to bounce as he looked back at Caroline's house. “Her mom has no idea that anything happened. She thinks we're all partying out on the Lockwood property.”

“Okay, so what now?” 

“I don't know.” He grimaced. “This isn't like Caroline at all.” 

“I'm sure she's fine, Matt. She's a clever girl. Don't worry.”

Matt closed his eyes and tried to let Rebekah's words soothe him. 

“I can't help it,” he muttered. “Something's wrong.” 

“We'll keep looking, alright?” 

“Okay.” Matt gritted his teeth. “Call me if you get a hold of your brother.” He scowled. “Either one of them.” 

“Will do, promise.” 

“Okay, bye.” 

“Bye, Matt.” 

~~

Hours ticked by like days. Caroline was pacing the length of Klaus's studio, trying to not give in to the warm, sunny spot beckoning at the foot of the balcony door. It was scary how much the cat part of her was starting to assert its influence. 

She needed to figure out how it happened. The first time she had transformed into a cat was just outside the Grill after she had checked to make sure her unwanted infatuation with Klaus was history. Then she'd turned back into a human sometime in the late afternoon while she was sleeping. And then she'd turned into a cat again while she was on the phone with Klaus. 

Maybe it was something about Klaus's presence that caused her to take feline shape? 

But that made no sense, because the next time she had transformed, Klaus hadn't been anywhere near her. The only one who had been there at the time was Elijah when she first turned into a human and then back into a cat within less than ten minutes; and she'd been stuck as a cat ever since. 

If it wasn't Klaus who caused the transformation, and it wasn't Elijah, because he hadn't been there the first couple times, what was the trigger? There had to be a trigger. The transformations weren't frequent enough for there not to be. 

Caroline took another turn around the floor and flopped down on her side, exhausted. Pacing was much harder work for a small body with four legs than she'd ever have thought. 

'If it wasn't Klaus, then what?'

She tilted her head and thought about what had been happening during the times that she remembered changing shape. She had walked out of the Grill, looked up at the sun – and bam.

Then she'd been on the phone with Klaus, told him not to worry, listened to him rant – and bam. 

An itchy spot on her right front leg kept distracting her from her thoughts, so she leaned over and gave it a lick, then a bite, then a couple more licks. 

Then she realized what she was doing.

'Urgh, bleh, plth, blargh.' 

She rubbed her paw pads over her tongue to get the hair off, then gagged some more when she realized those same paws had just spent a day walking around all over. 

She wiped her muzzle, one hair poked right into her nostril, and she sneezed. 

'Oh my God, that's it!'

She looked down at her arms and legs and almost squealed in triumph. 

Then she remembered that Klaus was less then thirty feet away, bent over his sketches at the desk. 

She was stark naked, lying in a sunny spot on the floor of Klaus's studio. 

Caroline burst into vampire speed and high tailed it into Klaus's bedroom, slamming the door in her wake. She made a beeline for the large dresser in the corner and ripped open the top drawer. 

Her jaw dropped at the sight of her clothes folded neatly next to Klaus's shirts and sweaters. Even her panties had ended up back in the drawer. 

She had barely put on her bra and panties when there was a knock on the door. 

“Sweetheart?” Klaus's voice came muffled from the other side.

“Don't you dare come in here right now!” she yelled as she scrambled into her blouse and skirt. 

There was silence for a good minute before she heard his voice again.

“Can I come in now?” 

She huffed under her breath, but there was really no reason to deny him now that she was fully dressed. It was his bedroom and her only other way out was through the window, not an option Caroline wanted to take.

“Fine, come in.” 

Klaus stepped inside with a smirk on his face.

“It's good to see you back to your old self.” 

“Yeah, well, it's even better to be back, so I've gotta go.”

She wasted no time heading for the door. She had places to be and people to yell at, starting with Bonnie Bennett. 

“What?” 

Klaus looked surprised as if he had expected her to hang around for some reason.

Caroline rolled her eyes. “Did you think I was going to be your pet for the rest of my life? Wake up, Klaus. Never going to happen.” 

At that moment she realized she was still wearing the stupid collar he had bought her. She pulled on the flexible band and tore through it with vampire strength. 

“I know exactly what happened, and I'm going to get this fixed, so you really have to stop freaking out about it and leave my friends alone, okay?” 

She pushed the trinket into his hand, trying to ignore the way his face crumbled as he looked at it. When he raised his head, his expression was a blank, impenetrable mask. She gulped, took a step away, and breezed past him out the door.

“And call off your sister.” 

~~

Caroline headed straight to Bonnie's house. She had no time to waste, in case something else made her sneeze again. Bonnie's reaction when they had tried to ask for help this morning had been less than helpful, but Caroline could understand that. It had been Klaus asking, and Bonnie had had no idea it had anything to do with Caroline. 

She banged on the door and rang the door bell incessantly until someone finally opened up. 

“Caroline?” 

Bonnie's face was ashen, her hair was tousled, and she had dark bags under her eyes. 

“You look terrible,” Caroline said. “What happened?” 

“It's nothing,” Bonnie mumbled. “Just didn't sleep well.”

“Uh-huh.” Caroline raised an eyebrow and shook her head. “This won't do.” 

She pushed past Bonnie into the house and headed straight for the kitchen. 

“Do you still have some of your gram's tea? You know the one with the lemon grass and stuff that we use for our all-night study sessions?” 

“Um, yeah?” Bonnie shuffled into the kitchen and flopped down on one of the bar stools at the island. “Up there.” She pointed at a cabinet on the right.

“Okay, great.” Caroline busied herself setting a kettle to boil. “Because I need your help, and I kind of need you to be conscious for that.” 

She flashed a smile over her shoulder at Bonnie and then went back to making tea. She also found some chocolate chip cookies in the pantry and poured them onto a plate that she set down in front of Bonnie. 

“Eat at least two, or I'll have to resort to espresso and pure sugar.”

Bonnie took a cookie with two fingers and slowly nibbled at one corner of it. 

“What's going on?”

Caroline sighed. There was no reason to beat around the bush.

“The spell we did backfired. Every time I sneeze, I turn into a cat.” 

Bonnie choked on the bite in her mouth and started coughing violently. 

“No way,” she rasped out between gasps. 

“Yuh-huh.” 

“Crap.” Bonnie grimaced. 

Then her eyes widened and the cookie dropped from her fingers.

“White cat?” she asked, “About yay big?” She curled her fingers around an invisible fur ball the size of a cantaloupe. “That was you?” 

“Yuh-huh,” Caroline said again, then took a sip of her tea.

“Oh, crap.” Bonnie dropped her head. “Caroline, I'm so sorry.” 

“It's okay.” Caroline patted her hand. “Just help me figure out how to fix this?” She chewed on her lip. “As soon as possible, too, because I haven't talked to my mom since yesterday. Can I use your phone?”

“Yeah, sure.” Bonnie pointed to the house phone on the counter.

“Thanks.” 

Caroline quickly dialed her mom's cell phone. The call went to voicemail after the third ring. She quickly summed up a story about hanging out with Bonnie and staying over at Bonnie's place for the night then hung up. 

When she turned around, Bonnie was still munching on cookies and slurping quietly on her cup of tea, looking like a zombie. Caroline furrowed her brows. She didn't like the way Bonnie looked, and she had a feeling there was more going on than just a random sleepless night, but it would have to wait.

“Okay,” she said with a long breath, “so, are you ready to do some serious research?” 

~~

“My brother is officially dead dog meat.” 

Rebekah was fuming. By the sound of her voice, she was ready to turn her threat into reality. 

“What happened?” Matt asked as he pulled the truck over to park on the curb. 

“My brother, Niklaus, just called me to tell me I don't need to bother any longer, Caroline has been found. She's fine, and I can go back to and I quote 'screwing the Salvatore runt'.”

Matt winced. “That's harsh.” 

“Not as harsh as I'm going to be the next time I see him.” 

Matt cringed. “You're trying to be good, remember?” 

“Failing is just one step on the path to success,” she said snidely.

“Okay, but maybe you could aim to fail a little less--” 

He cut himself off, wondering why on earth he was trying to talk her out of harming Klaus Mikaelson, the original vampire hybrid whose only purpose in life was to cause mayhem and destruction.

“You know what? Never mind. But are you sure Caroline's okay?” 

“Klaus said so.” 

He could easily imagine her casual shrug on the other end of the line. He tried to remind himself she was not part of his circle of friends and had no reason to be as concerned about Caroline as he was. That she was still on the phone with him at all spoke volumes about her loyalty. 

“Did he say where she was?” Matt asked. 

“Sorry, no,” she said. “And I didn't think to ask.” 

“It's alright.” He shook his head. “Let me check with the others. I'll call you right back, okay?” 

“Sure, I'll be here.” 

Her voice was so expressive, she could even make an eye-roll audible. 

Matt hung up with a cringe and dialed Bonnie's number first.

Someone picked up after the third ring.

“Hello?” 

“Bonnie, finally. Where have you been? I left you like three messages.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't sleep well and then--”

“Have you seen Caroline?” Matt hated interrupting anyone, but he was pretty much at the end of his rope. 

“Um, yeah, she's right here.” 

“Oh, thank God.” 

There was a shuffle at the other end of the line and then Caroline's voice sounded over the phone.

“Matt?” 

“Jesus, Caroline. Where have you been? I've been looking for you all over town.” 

“Seriously?” She sounded honestly surprised.

“Of course! What did you think was going to happen when you disappeared into thin air? I had to find out from Rebekah, and then your cell phone's just lying in your room--”

“You went into my room?” 

“I went everywhere. There is not a single place in this town that I haven't been today. I've still got your phone by the way.” 

“You took my phone?” 

“Caroline, can you focus? Where have you been?” 

She sighed and then there was a long moment of silence. Finally, she sighed again. 

“It's a long story. Look, I'm alright, it's just something Bonnie and I have to do. Can you drop off my phone at her place?”

Matt frowned. Something about the way she said it made it sound like the two were dealing with something outside of the realm of normal high school girl trouble.

“Yeah, alright,” he said slowly. “Are you sure you don't need help with anything?” 

“Yeah, we're fine, Matt.” Like Rebekah, Caroline's voice was expressive enough to make her smile audible over the line. “But thanks for asking. Can you just bring my phone to Bonnie's place?” 

“Sure.” He looked at his watch. It was just before six now. 

Matt let his head drop back against the headrest and tried to ignore the growing headache behind his eyes. He was hungry, he was tired, and he was annoyed that he'd been sent on a wild goose chase all day long without even finding out where Caroline really had been. He knew someone else who was in the exact same boat right now.

“You know what? I'll drop it by after dinner. See you then.” 

“Okay, thanks. Bye, Matt.” 

“Yeah, bye.”

He hung up and dialed Rebekah's number. She picked up after the first ring.

“Yeah?”

“How do you feel about baby back ribs with a baked potato?”

~~

After Matt's phone call, Caroline and Bonnie went back to their research, pouring over every book, note page, and even some questionable online articles and witch message boards in the hope of finding something that would help them reverse the botched spell.

So far, nothing had been useful and Caroline was feeling the frustration mount in the shape of a hardening throb in her temples. 

“This is useless!” She tossed another book onto the growing pile of discards. “Can't you just make something up?” 

“Right,” Bonnie said, “and the next time you sneeze, you end up exploding in a pile of feathers.” 

She slapped the loose papers in her hand down on the table and glared at Caroline, the dark circles making her eyes look even scarier.

“This is magic, Caroline, not a botched arts and crafts project.” 

“Well, think of something! I can't just be a cat for the rest of my life!” 

“Oh, come on,” Bonnie scoffed. “Aren't you a little over-dramatic?”

“Sneezing turns me into a different species!” 

“Exactly.” Bonnie yawned. “It's only when you sneeze, and when you sneeze again, you turn right back. It's not like it's a real emergency. Not like Elena ...” Bonnie trailed off and looked down at the table. 

Caroline snapped her mouth shut and stared at Bonnie without saying a word. 

What was there to say? It was obvious that Bonnie considered her emergency unimportant when compared to the grand tragedy that was Elena and her 'issues of the week'. 

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She wasn't thinking clearly right now. Elena was going through a rough time, and this was not a contest about who had it worse. 

When she opened her eyes again, she was calmer and resolutely ignoring Bonnie's burning gaze.

“I am going to go take a walk. I will be back.” 

She got up from the table and walked out of the room. A nice, long walk around the neighborhood would do her good. She would get some fresh air, regain some of her energy, and then she could go back to tackle the research with a fresh perspective and a clear mind.

~~

She had not counted on the late blooming Eastern Redbud or its deadly accuracy in aiming pollen directly at her nose. Less than three blocks from Bonnie's house, she ran into a cloud of sweet smelling invisible dust and sneezed herself right out of her clothes again.

She turned back and started to run in the direction of Bonnie's house, but she almost ran right into a stout bulldog on a loose leash held by an elderly man who lost all control of said leash when the dog tore itself free and gave chase after Caroline. 

She started out running at normal cat speed but then burst into vampire speed as soon as she got around the first corner and out of the man's line of sight. Fear kept her running further and faster until she was so exhausted she flat out collapsed in the shadow of someone's tall garden hedge. 

Being a cat sucked. If she could cry, she would, because right now she felt pretty damn entitled to a good long cry. 

“Aw, really? C'mon.” 

'Yes, really,' she thought with a huff. 'What?'

A large hand scooped her from the floor and Caroline panicked. She didn't recognize the face, and the hands were rough and squeezed too hard. 

'Let me go!' 

She wheeled around and sank her fangs into the fleshy arm, but then something banged her head so hard her world spun and she felt nothing but stinging throb and loud ringing in her ears. Her head lolled to the side.

“Yeah, that's what I thought. You're going to the pound.” 

 

The grip shifted and Caroline hissed and growled as the cruel hand pulled the scruff of her neck just the wrong way. She fought and wiggled to no avail. 

The stranger stuffed her into a filing box and closed the lid before she could escape. Then the whole box rattled as something heavy dropped on top of the lid. 

Caroline screamed and wailed, but the car sped away with her inside it, headed for a pound somewhere. 

~~

It wasn't until two hours later that she actually ended up at the pound. Her improvised cage had changed hands from the stranger to an on-call pound employee and the worker had taken her inside and dropped her on the floor of a large steel kennel with a thick blanket, a bowl of food, and a larger bowl of water, before turning off the lights and heading out the door. 

Caroline spent the rest of the night alone, cold, and afraid. She had no way to get out of the kennel, no way to contact her friends, no way to turn back into a human. 

She had given back her only chance of escape to the man who had offered it in a fit of sheer arrogance. As degrading as it had seemed at the time, if she had just kept the stupid collar around her neck, she wouldn't be here right now. Or if she was, she would already be awaiting her return to Klaus Mikaelson, or else. 

Caroline cried until she lost her voice. She fell asleep some time in the early morning with her nose buried inside the blanket, shivering. 

~~

 

Strange voices and a loud clatter, followed by the ruckus of her cell mates woke her up. 

“We got in another one last night?” 

“Yeah, I got the call 'round 7:30. Female, probably a stray. The guy said he picked her up out of a hedgerow.”

“Okay, check to make sure she's not chipped, then put her on the list with the others for destruction.” 

“Really?” 

“You know the rules. We've already got too many as it is. Vacation season's coming, and people are starting to get rid of their 'Christmas presents'.”

Caroline's heart drummed in her chest. She couldn't believe Klaus's threat was actually coming true. Her eyes widened in terror as her gaze focused on the latch on her cage. If she could manage a burst of vampire speed when the hatch opened …

A huge arm in a thick rawhide glove reached through the crack and grabbed her by the scruff of her neck. 

Caroline hissed and spat, but the hand was relentless, carrying her to a cold metal slab and holding her down. She growled and hissed as the pound worker ran a scanner over her body, looking for an ID chip that wasn't there. 

“C'mon, please,” the worker said, “Please.”

The scanner made a return trip over her body, and a third one for good measure. 

“Dammit.” 

The scanner banged down on the table, making Caroline flinch. 

“No chip.” The worker sounded dejected. 

“Put her on the list,” his co-worker said.

The worker sighed and his grip loosened for just a second. 

Caroline shot out from under it and burst into vampire speed. She almost slammed against the closed exit door before she reversed course and headed back towards the medical room, desperately searching for a corner to hide. 

“Dammit, she got loose!” 

She veered around the worker's legs, invisible to the human eye, and dashed into a dark corner behind the trash-can.

“Where did she go?” 

'I've got to sneeze.'

She rubbed her nose against her own fur, but nothing happened. 

'Come on, please, something. Anything.'

She frantically looked around the room. The floor was immaculate. There wasn't a dust speck anywhere. The smell of antiseptic stung her nose. 

'Yes!'

She vaulted up on the exam table. 

“There you are!” 

Her head whipped around to the worker who was coming her way, gloved hands outstretched to grab her.

Caroline hissed and jumped in the opposite direction, landing on the counter. Metal dishes and plastic scattered everywhere, making a racket. The pump bottle of antiseptic fell over. She grabbed it with both paws.

“Gotcha!”

The worker's rough hand grabbed her by the scruff of her neck. She clawed at the bottle and practically stuck her nose to the nozzle, inhaling deeply.

“Holy --!” Her sneeze drowned out the curse.

Caroline winced as her legs slid off the counter onto the cold stone floor. She was doubled over with the worker pressed up against her and his hand still clamped around the back of her neck. 

“What the hell?” 

To his credit, he let go immediately and stepped back, eyes wide.

It was Caroline's turn to lunge at him. 

She grabbed him by the shoulders and held him fast as her pupils widened to pull him into her compulsion. 

“Shut up,” she said quickly. “Nothing happened. You did not see a cat turn into a woman.” 

“Is everything okay in there?” 

The voice of the other pound employee echoed down the hall. 

“Tell her yes,” Caroline whispered.

“Yes.” 

Caroline flinched. “Tell her everything's fine.” 

“Everything's fine,” the worker repeated dutifully. 

The voice of his co-worker came down the hall again.

“Do you need help in there?” 

“Tell her no, and that you've got it under control.”

“No, I've got it under control.” 

“You sure?” 

That co-worker was one persistent lady. 

Caroline shook her head and blurted the first thing that came to her mind. 

“Tell her you actually found a tattoo and you're calling the owner right now.” 

“I actually found a tattoo,” he said. “And I'm calling the owner right now.” 

“Oh, cool beans,” the other worker sounded happy. “Let me know if you need help, she sounds like a handful.” 

Caroline breathed a sigh of relief.

“Stay right here,” she said quietly. “And not one word.” 

Then she closed the door to the medical lab and flicked the lock. 

The worker stared at her in confusion, eyes wandering over her naked body. 

“Hey, eyes up here,” Caroline snapped.

She grabbed a lab coat from a hanger by the door and quickly slipped into it. 

“Where are we?” she asked. 

“Whitmore Animal Shelter,” he replied.

“Whitmore?” Caroline made a face and turned her eyes to the ceiling. “Really?”

She was over an hour away from home, and her clothes were three blocks from Bonnie's house. There was no way she was going out in public wearing nothing but a lab coat. She needed a ride home from someone she could trust.

“Where's the phone?”

The pound worker pointed at the counter on the opposite corner of the room. 

“Thanks.” 

She called Bonnie's house first, and it just rang, and rang, and rang. Then she called Matt's house and it went to voicemail after the third ring, so she hung up without saying anything.

They were the only phone numbers she remembered, aside from Elena's old house phone, and that was no longer in service since the house it belonged to had been burned to a crisp. 

“Come on, come on.” 

She had never bothered memorizing her friends' cell phone numbers because they were right there in her cell phone. The same cell phone was probably right now sitting on Bonnie's coffee table, where Matt was supposed to drop it off last night. 

Caroline was not going to call her mother. There was no way she would pull her into the drama. She'd rather walk home naked.

She squeezed her eyes shut and desperately tried to remember anyone's phone number. The first part was easy. They all had 757, then most of them had 555 and then …

“Come on.” 

She banged the top of the handset against her forehead. One of them had to have an easy number. Nine? Seven? No. Five? Eight? Three? Nine? Nine-Eight. Nine-Eight.

“Three-Four-Nine-Eight! Oh my God.” 

She dialed the number so quickly, she didn't even think about who it belonged to until there was a click on the other end of the line, followed by an impatient snarl.

“Who is this?” 

Caroline squeezed her eyes shut and whimpered in frustration.

“Caroline?” Klaus's tone was immediately more pleasant.

“Yes.” She hung her head. “Can you come pick me up?” 

“Where are you?” 

She bit her lip and made another frustrated noise. She hated to have to do this. Why couldn't she have remembered anyone else's phone number? He was never going to let her live this one down.

She sighed.

“Whitmore Animal Shelter.” 

“Oh, for--” Klaus cut himself off. “I'll be there in 30 minutes.” 

“Bring some--” 

He hung up on her before she could finish her sentence. 

“Clothes,” she said with a huff.

There was nothing for it. She would have to turn back into a cat now, because she'd managed to talk herself into a corner and help was on the way sans clothes. 

She grabbed the pound worker by the shoulders and drew him back into her compulsion.

“You called the owner. His name is Klaus Mikaelson and he is on his way. The cat is a bit under the weather, so it's best to keep her here in the med room, on a nice warm blanket on this table until the owner gets here. Also, there was never a woman in this room. It was just you and the cat the whole time.” 

She let go of his shoulders and turned to pick up the bottle of disinfectant. She brought it right up to her face and took a deep breath until her nose tickled, then sniffed some more until she finally sneezed.

The bottle clattered to the floor and the lab coat fluttered down around her ears. Caroline looked up and mewled plaintively at the worker standing in front of her.

He shook himself and looked down, eyes wide in surprise. 

“What are you doing down there?” 

'Getting my just deserts for messing around with magic.'

She mewled again and let the worker pick her up by the scruff of her neck. 

'Why can't he be as nice as Klaus and Elijah?'

Caroline scolded herself for the traitorous thought and let herself be manhandled without a fight. 

“There,” the worker said as he placed her on the metal slab. “You look a bit under the weather.” 

He left her on the table and pulled a blanket from one of the cabinets under the counter. 

“Why don't we wait here until your owner comes to take you home, huh?”

He placed the blanket on the slab and set Caroline down on top of it, then went about cleaning up the mess she had made on the counter.

~~

True to his word, Klaus broke every speed limit between his mansion and the shelter and made it to Whitmore within 30 minutes. He parked in front of the main entrance and strode into the place as if he owned it. 

“I'm Klaus Mikaelson,” he said. “You have my cat.”

The lady behind the counter raised her brows at his tone, but he was in no mood for niceties. 

“She's snow white, blue eyes, bad temper,” he gritted out. “Where is she?”

“Ah.” The woman nodded knowingly. “She's in the med room, if you'll just fill out this paperwork.” 

When she picked up a clipboard with a thick stack of papers, Klaus leaned on the counter and pulled her into his compulsion with a snarl.

“I have already filled out your paperwork and everything is in order, so you will go and bring her to me, now.” 

“Of course,” the woman said with a shaky smile on her face. “One moment, please. I'll go get your cat.” 

The woman disappeared behind a door that said 'Authorized Personnel Only' and came back out with a cage that was just large enough to fit a fully grown cat. 

Klaus scoffed at the cage, ripped it from the woman's hand, and pulled Caroline out immediately. 

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” 

He looked her over from top to tail, but she didn't seem any worse for wear. Klaus held her up so he could look into her face. She kept turning her head to look away from him.

“Did they hurt you in any way?” 

So help him, if the answer to his question was yes, they would leave this place burning to the ground. 

Finally, Caroline looked up at him with a hard stare. Then she very slowly moved her head to the left then back to the right in a strange move for a cat, shaking her head.

“They treated you well?” 

Caroline moved her head up and down just as slowly.

Both workers watched the display with fascinated expressions on their faces.

“That is so creepy,” said the male worker.

The woman nodded and took a step toward the counter at the exit. 

“If that's all, sir,” she said.

“Yes,” Klaus said as he tucked Caroline more comfortably into the crook of his arm. “That's all.” 

He felt her claws dig into his arm and looked down to see her glaring at him. It strangely reminded him of his mother's glare when he was little and had acted rudely.

“Thank you,” he said, taking a guess.

Caroline's glare simmered down a notch and she lowered her head. 

Klaus rolled his eyes and shook his head as he carried her out the door. 

“I'm the one who deserves a thank you,” he said quietly as he dropped her on the passenger seat of his car. “Didn't I warn you what would happen if you get caught without the collar?”

~~

The drive back to the Mikaelson mansion was long and quiet. Caroline remained curled up on the passenger seat, staring at the glove box in front of her. 

To his credit, Klaus did not admonish her any further. Once they pulled to a stop in the driveway, he picked her up and carried her all the way to his bedroom where he placed her on the edge of his bed. 

“Have you figured out how to change shape at will?” 

Caroline moved her head in a slow, awkward nod. 

Klaus stepped back and shoved his hands into the pockets of his slacks. 

“You can wear anything out of that dresser.” He nodded his head in the direction of the now familiar piece of furniture. “I'll give you some privacy.” 

Then he walked out of the room without saying another word. 

Caroline buried her nose in the overstuffed comforter, sniffing deeply. Nothing happened. She dove under the bed and brushed her whiskers through the dust bunnies. No result. She grew impatient. With a low, rumbling snarl, she stalked into the en-suite bathroom, jumped up onto the counter, and smacked at the faucet until the water started to run in a thick, icy-cold stream. 

'Here goes nothing.'

As soon as she stuck her nose under the stream, a mighty sneeze jolted through her. Her limbs expanded, elbows and knees banging against the counter as she dropped over the side and crashed onto the marble floor with a heavy thump.

“Ow.” 

Caroline winced. She grimaced at the angry scrapes and bruises on her arms and legs. The fact that she would heal super fast didn't mean they didn't hurt. She dried her face with a towel, hobbled back into the bedroom, and dressed as quickly as she could in one of Klaus's shirts and sweatpants, expecting him to come banging down the door any second. He had to have heard her tumble to the floor.

A full minute later, she was still standing around his bedroom alone. An uncomfortable feeling spread its tendrils in the pit of her stomach. Caroline decided to go look for him. 

She found him in his study, head bent over the large drawing desk, working on one of his sketches. He didn't look up when she stepped over the threshold nor when she cleared her throat. 

“I'm dressed,” she said dumbly. 

Klaus continued to work on the sketch, moving the charcoal over the paper with quick, harsh strokes of his hand. His gaze remained glued to the paper. 

“Then I expect you're leaving.”

His tone was deliberately flat. She wasn't sure what to say. She wanted to thank him for saving her, but he was obviously still mad at her, so she had no idea how he would take that.

“Klaus--”

“Don't worry about returning the clothes. I'm sure I won't miss them.” 

Caroline did a double take. The dismissal stung. She didn't even know why, but she couldn't stand the fact that he was giving her the cold shoulder. She pressed her lips together. 

“Will you at least look at me?” 

She stomped her bare foot, banging her heel against the wood with a dull thud. It was good to be human.

He deliberately continued his sketch for another moment before his hand stopped moving. Then he looked up at her with the same blank expression she had seen when she left his house the day before. 

“Was there anything else you needed?”

Caroline huffed. If he thought he could make her feel guilty by acting like he was the wounded party and she had wronged him in some way... 

'Well, then he'd be exactly right, wouldn't he?'

From the moment Klaus had found out what had happened, he had been nothing but supportive. He had not stopped looking until he found her, had given her a safe place to stay, had done everything he could to help her return to her old self and to keep her from harm until then.

And how had she thanked him for it? She'd stuck her butt in his face both literally and figuratively. The least he deserved was an apology.

“Klaus,” she said quietly.

~~

He raised his brows. Remorse was a new note in her siren-song. While it was nice to hear, it did little to change his mood. There was only so much he was willing to take, and she had stretched his capability for endurance to its very limit. 

Caroline seemed to know it, too, because she couldn't hold his gaze even though she'd practically ordered him to look at her. Her eyes veered off to a sunny spot on the floor. 

“I'm sorry,” she said. “I'm sorry for the way I stormed out of here yesterday. That wasn't fair.” 

Klaus scoffed. He rubbed his fingers together, spreading the black smudges of charcoal between them. What did she expect him to say? His eyes returned to the sketch in front of him. The scene was only half-finished. He'd barely begun to fill in the outlines.

Caroline stepped closer, her bare feet slapping the cold floor. 

“You might want to put on some socks,” he said with a forced smirk, “or you could turn right back into a cat.” 

“I'd still be safe here.” 

Klaus laughed. “The big bad wolf won't hurt the pretty kitten? You're awfully sure of yourself, sweetheart.” 

“I'm sure of you.” 

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes. 

She was standing only a few feet away, huddled in his clothes, her arms crossed in front of her as she curled her bare toes against the hardwood. It looked like she was trying to make up her mind about something. 

“I think,” she said, “you've made it pretty clear how you feel about me.” She sighed. “And I think I've done a crappy job at taking you seriously. I get that now.” 

Caroline padded even closer, wrapping her arms more tightly across her chest. Klaus held his breath. Was she finally acknowledging the feelings between them? He did not dare to hope.   
He kept his head down, held his body as still as possible, and made a non-committal noise in his throat. 

“Klaus!” Caroline exploded in frustration. “I'm trying to tell you that I'm sorry, and that I'm grateful for everything you've done. Can you at least … I don't know. Say something?” 

He looked up with raised brows, turned in his seat to face her, and laced his charcoal smudged fingers between his knees. 

“What would you like me to say, luv?” 

Her mouth fell open and she stared at him blankly. She had clearly not expected that question. Her breath stuttered and she snapped her mouth shut, shaking her head in a way that reminded him of her feline form. Then she cocked her head to the side and swallowed thickly. 

“Do you still have the tag?” 

Klaus blinked, taken aback by the sudden change in topic. He kept his eyes on Caroline, lest they move to the small trinket box on the edge of his drawing table. He controlled his breathing and forced his voice to come out in an even tone.

“Why?” 

She raised her chin and held out her hand. 

“Can I have it?” 

Klaus sat frozen, staring at her outstretched palm. 

“Please, Klaus?” She looked away. “Just … Just until Bonnie can figure out how to reverse this?” 

Klaus twisted in his seat and pulled the pendant from its box. He stared at the plain engraving in the middle of the silver heart on his palm. 'Return to Klaus Mikaelson 757-555-3498'. He closed his fist around the sharp edges and looked up at Caroline. 

“Why?” he asked again.

Caroline dropped her hand, shifted on her feet, and looked at the floor. She chewed on her bottom lip for what felt like a whole minute before she finally answered. 

“Because if anything happens...” She paused, stuck out her chin, and then finally looked up and met his gaze directly. “Because you love me, and, no matter what, I know you'll always come to save me.” 

Selfish. Klaus tightened his fist and focused on the bite of the metal against his skin so he didn't have to feel anything else. He barely heard what she said over the droning hum of disappointment in his ears. 

“And that means a lot more to me than I thought it did.”

The hum disappeared, overtaken by the stabbing thump of his heartbeat. Her words played back in his mind as he looked at her, searching for signs of duplicity or empty flattery. 

Her face was completely open. She looked a little embarrassed, borrowed blood tinting her face a subtle shade of pink as her eyes shone like glass underneath furrowed brows. She held out her hand again. 

“Can I have it, please?” 

Klaus loosened his hold on the pendant, but he could still feel the sting where the edges had pressed into his palm. As he looked at the engraving again, he couldn't help but smirk. The symbolism could not be more obvious.

“Take it,” he said, holding out the silver heart between his blackened fingers. “It's yours.” 

She grasped it quickly, afraid he might change his mind?, smudging her own fingers in the process. 

He didn't say anything, because he didn't have anything left to say. Instead, he turned his eyes back to the table, picked up his charcoal and continued to work on the sketch before him. 

“Klaus?”

He smiled. 

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.” 

He nodded his head and made a non-committal noise in his throat. This time, she didn't challenge him. He listened to her footsteps fade as she left the room. 

Under the brush of his fingers, the sketch on the paper took shape. It was a simple, terribly sappy scene, fit for internet fame on the social media of elderly women and lonely teenage girls. A large black wolf sat with his head bowed low, facing a small white cat with her neck stretched as far as she could without rising on her hind legs. Their noses were touching. 

It wasn't love, but it was a start.

The End


End file.
